eBay Earnings Not Enough to Balance Out Weak Guidance

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) released its most recent quarterly earnings report after the markets closed on Wednesday. The online vendor said that it had $0.49 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.22 billion in revenue. There are consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $0.48 in EPS and $2.21 billion in revenue. The first-quarter from last year had $0.47 in EPS and $2.14 billion in revenue.

In the first quarter, eBay added two million active buyers across its platforms, for a total of 169 million global active buyers.

Underlying total eBay performance, the Marketplace platforms delivered $20.0 billion of GMV and $1.8 billion of revenue. Marketplace GMV was up 2% on an as-reported basis and 5% on a foreign exchange-neutral basis, driven by growth of active buyers, continued expansion of new user experiences and brand advertising.

Also, the company recently announced a strategic agreement with Flipkart. In exchange for an equity stake, eBay will make a $500 million cash investment in and sell its eBay.in business to Flipkart.

In terms of guidance for the coming quarter, the company expects net revenue to be in the range of $2.28 billion to $2.32 billion with EPS in the range of $0.43 to $0.45. The consensus estimates are calling for $0.47 in EPS and $2.32 billion in revenue in the second quarter.

During the quarter, the company generated $582 million of operating cash flow and $447 million of free cash flow from continuing operations. The company also repurchased $350 million of its common stock in the quarter. On the books, cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaled $6.9 billion at the end of the quarter, versus $7.1 billion at the end of December 2016.

Devin Wenig, President and CEO of eBay, commented:

The first quarter was a strong start to the year with accelerating growth in active buyers, revenue and our core U.S. business. We are on the right path as we continue to evolve our shopping platform for consumers, leverage our technology advantages and market a sharpened eBay brand globally.

Shares of eBay Wednesday at $33.85, with a consensus analyst price target of $34.91 and a 52-week trading range of $22.30 to $34.74. Following the release of the earnings report the stock was down about 4% at $32.49 in the after-hours trading session.